‘Inside’ report triggers new GM pickup flap

General Motors Corp. once again is fighting a TV news show that questioned the safety of its pickup trucks with side-mounted gasoline tanks.

On Wednesday, King World’s syndicated strip “Inside Edition” broadcast a story about the controversy over 4.7 million 1973-87 GM pickups.

The show included comments from jurors in product liability suits against GM, who charge the automaker misled them by rigging crash tests of GM and Ford pickups — tests that were used in court.

GM had made similar allegations about the rigging of a crash against “NBC Dateline.” That led the news program to admit in an unusual on-the-air apology that it had rigged crashes of GM pickups exploding in side-impact collisions.